The cut in the prices of Lotus Notes client and server software, as well as Lotus Development Corp’s announcement of deals with numerous companies, is designed not only to increase the number of Notes users, but to undermine the delayed Microsoft Corp rival to Notes, Exchange. Speaking during Lotusphere ’95 in Orlando, Jeff Papows, vice-president of the communications products business group, said it was a deliberate, calculated and planned pre-emptive strike against Microsoft’s planned entry whenever the hell that may be. Notes now costs $275, down from $330. Most of the new Notes users are expected to come from deals to bundle Lotus Express with IBM Corp and Apple Computer Inc products. As already reported (CI No 2,587) Notes Express will be added to some models of Power Macintosh and PowerBook computers beginning next quarter. Notes Express will be added to OS/2 Warp later this year; it will combine seven communication and collaboration applications including client-server-based electronic mail, discussion databases, news and reference databases, a shared phone book, customer tracking and service request. It is estimated that these two deals alone could win up to 4m new users this year.
Integration
Other deals announced this week include one with AT&T Corp to integrate voice messages from a telephone with electronic mail and facsimile; initial product shipments are expected to be released in the second half of 1995. Integration of Intuity Audix with Notes and cc:Mail will enable users to access voice mail and electronic mail messages from either a telephone or their cc:Mail or Notes desktops. AT&T and Lotus will also deliver an integrated messaging application programming interface based on the existing Common Messaging Call standard. Lotus is also working with Motorola Inc to enhance the wireless capabilities of Notes and cc:Mail. The first product will support cc:Mail Mobile, and is expected in April. And with Placerville, California-based Ibex Technologies Inc, Lotus has signed a worldwide software licence agreement to provide enhanced facsimile-on-demand technology for users of Lotus support services using Ibex’s FactsLine for Lotus Notes as the standard in more than 25 countries. Notes users will be able to access Ibex’s library of support products using a phone and documents will be automatically sent via fax. During Lotusphere, Lotus made several product announcements, including the launch of Lotus Notes Desktop; Video for Notes Release 1.0; Notes HiTest Tools for Visual Basic; Lotus Fax Server; InterNotes; and NotesView. Notes Desktop is an abbreviated version of Notes software that enables users to run any Notes-compatible software without the full Notes package. It will cost $155 for 50 or more licences. It is based on Release 3.30 of Notes, which is scheduled to ship this quarter; Desktop will ship at the same time, as will Notes Express. Video for Notes is $2,700 per site. It incorporates digital video into Notes documents and distributes video over local and wide area networks. It provides direct and immediate playback from video servers; when immediate playback is not possible, staged playback, with video downloaded from a server to the desktop and then viewed, is possible. It supports standard network file systems and video server software products from Novell Inc and Starlight Networks Inc. The client software costs $120. Notes HiTest is a collection of Windows development tools for Visual Basic developers. It includes 12 custom controls that correspond to Notes objects that developers can graphically link to each other.
Basic
HiTest will be available by April at $610. The HiTest application programming interface is currently available in two languages: C and Basic. The Lotus Fax Server has been designed to enable users of Notes and cc:Mail to send, receive, view and manipulate faxes without exiting Notes or cc:Mail. It is available in Notes or cc:Mail editions, built from a common code base. It will be available within 90 days. Notes Edition is $2,500; the cc:
Mail Edition is $1,475; upgrades from the Notes Outgoing and Incoming Fax Gateways and cc:Fax 1.2 are available at $800 and $475 respectively. InterNotes is a new product line that integrates Notes with Internet applications. The first products are the InterNotes Web Publisher, which enables users to publish public information created in Notes on the Web, and InterNotes News, which provides bi-directional access to Usenet News from Notes. InterNotes Web Publisher uses Corporate Software Inc technology to convert Notes documents and databases into Hypertext Mark-up Language. InterNotes News uses Network News Transfer Protocol to exchange articles between Notes and Unix news servers. A new Lotus Web site, http://www.lotus.com is now open, created and managed with a beta copy of the InterNotes Web Publisher. The products ship this half; InterNotes News is $2,500 and InterNotes Web Publisher, $7,500. NotesView is a graphical management product that enables the monitoring and control of enterprise-wide Notes environments. It is is built on SNMP and Hewlett-Packard Co’s HP OpenView; out this quarter. NotesView for Workgroups, with one to 10 servers, costs $3,500; NotesView for the Enterprise, can manage up to 150 Notes servers, costs $6,000.
Clutch
Additionally, a clutch of companies announced integration of Notes to their products at Lotusphere: Reuters Holdings Plc will offer Reuter Business Alert for Lotus Notes, an local net information agent; Powersoft Corp has enhanced PowerBuilder Library for Lotus Notes; Worldtalk Corp is launching Worldtalk Directory Service Unit for Notes; Folio Corp has Folio Fusion for integrating Folio Views and Notes; Clarify Inc has ClearExtensions Kit for Lotus Notes at $10,000 per server licence; Attachmate Corp has Remote LAN Node and RLN Application Server releases supporting Notes; Revelation Technologies Inc has a Notes version of OpenInsight for Workgroups; Verity Inc has Topic Agents for Notes next quarter; SandPoint Co will offer Hoover applications through AT&T Network Notes; Documentum Inc has integrated Documentum Server with Notes; ViewStar Corp is planning Notes:Document Imaging 2.5, an enhancement to its Integration Toolset; Unisys Worldwide Information Services said its business consultants will use Notes and it is forming a Lotus Notes Centre; TechSmith Corp announced Enterprise Wide version 2.5 with Notes support; Vantive Corp will integrate the Vantive System with Notes using OpenLink for Lotus Notes; Sun Microsystems Computer Corp is, as promised, including Notes, free, with Sparc servers and has announced a Sun Partners in Notes, SPIN, programme; Trinzic Corp will put its InfoPump software up under Notes in the second half of 1995; Informix Software Inc will launch the Lotus Notes Class Library on Windows in the third quarter; and Folio Corp has unveiled Folio Fusion software for integrating its Folio Views with Notes.
